Tips for the galaxy map?

[Misery]

Okay, so, simple thing here, looking for tips on what to do and not do on the galaxy map, what kinds of tactics are good for properly expanding without making the AI go berserk, and what kinds of targets are most important for capturing or just destroying without capture.

Some are pretty obvious... pop data centers, grab advanced factory things, stuff like that.... but often I find it's kinda difficult to figure out just what I need to do next exactly.  Aside from scouting, that's sort of a really obvious idea.

It would definitely help to learn good ways of doing this stuff that wont summon 10 billion enemy ships in the process.

[TheVampire100]

Depends on what you want and what enabled.

For an example if you have the Core Shields enabled you HAVE to take every planet that features a Core Shield generator so you can defeat the Core Guard Posts. I think this is intended to give players a lead where to start conquering but on the other side it is annoying because you know that there are some planets that you HAVE to take even if they don't give you another benefit.

What you REALLY want to get are advanced research labs, factories and such stuff. Why? Because these are the only way to get new and better ships. Yeah, you CAN research some stuff but new ship types and the higher mark stuff is only aviable if you conquer this. Well, there is also hacking but hacking triggers a lot of AI response and can get annoying. For the Advanced factories it is however very useful because you don't have to defend them like crazy after you've conquered them.

There are also other capturable structures. Zenith generators are very powerful, conquer one and you will never run out of energy again, conquer two ist just crazy (but gives you a nice achievment).
Some planets feature also more metal spots that you can harvest. You might want to take planets with 7 spots so you don't run out of metal.
I always conquer planets around my homeworld. This is because I can defend the homeworld better like this (no waves, AI has to travel though at least one other planet before reaching homeworld).

Another thing are stratecig positions. You might just want an "outpost", near at the action. While you can create beachheads at enemy planets I found it more than once good to have at least one planet directly at the front so I can easy replace a defeated fleet or keep the pressure on the enemy high. Definetly useful against the homeworlds of the AIs.

[WingedKagouti]

Aside from the obvious stuff (AIP reduction, AF, ARS, Golems, etc), the most important thing is setting up a defensible position with a minimal amount of planets taken/neutralized.

And avoiding too many deep strikes (raids behind the front line). The AI tends to get pissed off about those, but you should probably still conduct some from time to time.

[Hearteater]

My basic target list is as follows:
1) Planets necessary to set up a whipping boy* (the sole planet in my empire that waves will be allowed to attack thanks to gate raids/warp jammer CSs)
2) Planets with super weapons or other toys I really want
3) Planetary island chain to each enemy homeworld so I don't get deep strike penalties (attacking more than 4 worlds into enemy territory spawns bad stuff[TM])
4) Planets needed to break all the CSGs***

To get #3 planned out I need to finish my scouting so I don't worry about that at first. I try and focus on #1 and #2 at first, with an eye to maximizing my scouting reach and hopefully supporting the attack paths that are most likely needed when working on #3 **. Ideally I ignore #4 until I'm building in paths to the AI homeworlds. Generally I end up with one or two planets I need to take to break the final CSG, because all the rest got covered. Just shifting which planets I take in my island chain to the AI homeworlds during #3 generally nets me 1 to 3 CSGs for "free". I get another 4 to 5 during steps #1 and #2.

* The ideal whipping boy has good wormhole placement so that the waves will come in far from the wormhole into my systems. Often the fewer connecting systems the better because you'll gate raid all but one AI world so you control exactly where they come in. Certain capturables are extra useful to have on a whipping boy: Grav Drill, Radar Jammer II, Blackhole Generator, high mark Ion Cannons, and OMDs (in that order). If you ever get the chance to set up a whipping boy with a Grav Drill + Super Fort you'll find you've basically turned waves off.

** The AI homeworlds are generally as far as possible from you. The easiest way to guess is to find the planet the largest number of hopes away. Then find the planet that is the largest number of hops from both you AND that previous planet. Those are the likely AI homeworlds. Approximately. There is some variance, but it's probably within one hope in most games for me.

*** In case you didn't notice, CSGs are always on certain planets. CSG-A are always on ARS planets. Since you need 4 of 5 CSG-As to take out that network, they really aren't a hardship to capture because you get a new ship unlock for each. CSG-Bs are always with Advanced Factories, CSG-Cs are always with Fabs, CSG-Ds are something else I can't recall, and CSG-Es I believe are randomly placed. So a lot of times #2 gets you a few CSGs because they come with nice toys.

[Bud Backer]

The last paragraph in the most recent post is quite revealing. I never caught onto those associations, very interesting!

[Toranth]

*** In case you didn't notice, CSGs are always on certain planets. CSG-A are always on ARS planets. Since you need 4 of 5 CSG-As to take out that network, they really aren't a hardship to capture because you get a new ship unlock for each. CSG-Bs are always with Advanced Factories, CSG-Cs are always with Fabs, CSG-Ds are something else I can't recall, and CSG-Es I believe are randomly placed. So a lot of times #2 gets you a few CSGs because they come with nice toys.

CSG-D's used to be associated with Counter-Attack Guardposts.

[Wingflier]

I agree with Hearteater. When I start out I find the AI planets closest to my Homeworld that have the most metal spots in order to boost my economy. Then, playing with Core Shield Generators enabled, I go for the most beneficial planets with each Core Shield (B, C, D, and E), whose value depends on distance from my Homeworld, how many metal spots they have, and of course what super weapons, fabs, or turrets they have on them. For Core Shield As, you have to kill 4 of those regardless, and those all come with a bonus ship attached. Of course destroying those is a lot less convenient because you don't really get to choose the location. After all the CSGs are down, you should be ready for your first attack on the AI HW!

[Misery]

Hmm, some good advice here.  Had noticed that bit with the Core-A things, so those are definite priorities.  Getting going a bit faster in my current game now.

Question:  Are data centers always grouped up together? All of the ones I've found so far were all in a little heap, all adjacent.  Or is that just the RNG being quirky?

[Draco18s]

Question:  Are data centers always grouped up together? All of the ones I've found so far were all in a little heap, all adjacent.  Or is that just the RNG being quirky?

RNG being quirky.

[PokerChen]

On simple and realistic maps, finding an area that's connected enough to run distributed defenses with a standby defensive fleet. Waves are smaller (and more frequent) when you run multiple entry planets.